National Sleep Foundation - Science of Sleephttps://sleepfoundation.org/taxonomy/term/74
enFindings Reveal Brain Mechanisms at Work During Sleephttps://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-news/findings-reveal-brain-mechanisms-work-during-sleep
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>New findings report the important role sleep plays and the brain mechanisms at work as sleep shapes memory, learning, and behavior.</p>
<p>One in five American adults show signs of chronic sleep deprivation, making the condition a widespread public health problem. Sleeplessness is related to health issues such as obesity, cardiovascular problems, and <a href="https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-news/improve-your-memory-good-nights-sleep" title="Improve Your Memory with a Good Night's Sleep">memory problems.</a></p>
<h3>Today's findings show that</h3>
<ul>
<li>Sleepiness disrupts the coordinated activity of an important network of brain regions; the impaired function of this network is also implicated in <a href="https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-disorders-problems/alzheimers-disease-and-sleep">Alzheimer's disease.</a></li>
<li><span style="text-align: justify;">Sleeplessness plays havoc with communication between the hippocampus, which is vital for memory, and the brain's "default mode network;" the changes may weaken event recollection.In a mouse model, fearful memories can be intentionally weakened during sleep, indicating new possibilities for treatment of <a href="https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-disorders-problems/trauma-and-sleep" title="Trauma and Sleep">post-traumatic stress disorder.</a></span></li>
<li><span style="text-align: justify;">Loss of less than half a night's sleep can impair memory and alter the normal behavior of brain cells.</span></li>
</ul>
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<h3>Other recent findings discussed show:</h3>
<p>How sleep enables the remodeling of memories — including the weakening of irrelevant memories — and the coherent integration of old and new information.The common logic behind seemingly contradictory theories of how sleep remodels synapses, aiding cognition and memory consolidation.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">"As these research findings show, we cannot underestimate the importance of a good night's sleep," said press conference moderator Clifford Saper, PhD, MD, from the Harvard Medical School, an expert on sleep and its deprivation. "Brain imaging and behavioral studies are illuminating the brain pathways that are blocked or contorted by sleep deprivation, and the risks this poses to learning, memory, and mental health."</p>
<h3>References</h3>
<ul>
<li>Andrew Ward, abstract 909.05</li>
<li>Hengyi Rao, PhD, abstract 626.08</li>
<li>Giulio Tononi, MD, PhD</li>
<li>Gina Poe, PhD</li>
<li>Asya Rolls, abstract 807.06</li>
<li>Ted Abel, PhD, abstract 807.13</li>
</ul>
</div></div></div>Mon, 22 Oct 2012 19:44:29 +0000sleepfoundation3234 at https://sleepfoundation.orgYou can't "catch up on sleep"https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-news/you-cant-catch-sleep
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Getting extra sleep to overcome sleep deprivation may seem like the right thing to do, but a recent Harvard Medical School study found that it's not that easy. </p>
<p> The study highlights the effects of chronic sleep loss on performance and demonstrates that it is nearly impossible to "catch up on sleep" to improve performance.</p>
<p> According to the study, even when you sleep an extra 10 hours to compensate for sleeping only 6 hours a night for up to two weeks, your reaction times and ability to focus is worse than if you had pulled an all-nighter. This is not good news for <a href="http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-topics/shift-work-and-sleep">shift-workers</a> such as doctors, truckers, and law enforcement officers. </p>
<p> The bottom line is that there is no real way to recoup lost sleep.There are things shift workers can do to get quality sleep during their off hours, for example, wearing dark glasses to block out the sunlight on your way home, keeping the same bedtime and wake time schedule, even on weekends, eliminate noise and light from your sleep environment (use eye masks and ear plugs).</p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-topics/shift-work-and-sleep">Get more sleep tips for shift workers.</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/2/14/14ra3.abstract">Learn more about the Harvard Medical School study</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
</div></div></div>Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:41:24 +0000suzette gardner2032 at https://sleepfoundation.orgStress and Your Immune System's Responsehttps://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-news/stress-and-your-immune-systems-response
<div class="field field-name-field-date field-type-date field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">August 8, 2008</span></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-cache field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="https://sleepfoundation.org/sites/default/files/2008_3_24STRESSEDTEEN.JPG" width="105" height="111" alt="Stressed teen" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Everyone has experienced stress at one time or another, and it's not hard to imagine that too much stress can make you more susceptible to sickness. But why? According to a recent study in the journal <em>Biological Psychiatry</em>, researchers believe they've found a mechanism that alters the body's immune response when under stress. The researchers examined two groups — one composed of caregivers of family members with cancer and the other composed of individuals without that type of stress. They found that the gene expression of the caregivers' monocytes — a type of white blood cell — had been altered so they were less responsive to cortisol — an anti-inflammatory hormone secreted by the adrenal glands to fight stress. "In other words, something goes awry in caregivers’ white blood cells so they are not able to 'receive' the signal from cortisol that tells them to shut down inflammation," Gregory E. Miller, one of the study's authors, wrote. This can increase the risk of illnesses such as depression, which is often associated with severe sleep disturbance. According to the researchers, many questions remain unanswered, like how stress produces the altered gene expressions, but they concluded the study is a vital step in understanding how stress affects the immune system.</p>
<ul>
<li>Read the <a href="http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/bps/article/S0006-3223%2808%2900361-2/abstract" target="new">abstract</a>.</li>
<li>Learn more about <a href="/article/ask-the-expert/sleep-and-depression">Sleep and Depression</a>.</li>
</ul>
</div></div></div>Sat, 02 May 2009 11:19:28 +0000admin203 at https://sleepfoundation.orgHow Was Your Sleep Last Night?https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-news/how-was-your-sleep-last-night
<div class="field field-name-field-date field-type-date field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">August 25, 2008</span></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-cache field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="https://sleepfoundation.org/sites/default/files/2008_4_22SLEEPYWOMAN.JPG" width="105" height="111" alt="#N/A" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Did you have trouble falling asleep last night? Did you experience difficulty staying asleep or did you wake up too early? If your answers were "yes," "yes" and "all the time," you have something in common with your fellow Americans. A survey of 1,466 adults conducted by the <em>Consumer Reports</em> National Research Center found that 44 percent of the respondents reported those problems — for many, repeatedly. The survey, to be published in the <em>Consumer Report</em>'s September issue, also found that many people turn to medicine to treat sleep disorders, such as insomnia. According to the survey, almost 1 in 5 Americans used prescription or over-the-counter drugs at least once a week to combat sleepiness.</p>
<ul>
<li>Read the <a href="http://www.consumerreports.org/health/medical-conditions-treatments/sleep/overview/sleep-ov.htm" target="new">article</a>.</li>
<li>Get some <a href="/article/healthy-sleep-tips">Healthy Sleep Tips</a>.</li>
</ul>
</div></div></div>Sat, 02 May 2009 11:16:00 +0000admin195 at https://sleepfoundation.org